Tablet share growing, but pricing dropping

Average tablet pricing is coming down, as tablet’s share of “connected stuff” is rising, according to IDC. “Looking forward, IDC expects the worldwide smart connected device space will continue to surge well past the strong holiday quarter and predicts shipments to surpass 2.1 billion units in 2016 with a market value of $796.7 billion worldwide. IDC’s research clearly shows this to be a multi-device era, although market dynamics are shifting in terms of product category. In 2011, PC’s – a combination of desktop and portable PCs – accounted for 39.1% of the smart connected device market. By 2016 it is expected to drop to 19.9%. Smartphones will be the preferred product category with share growing from 53.1% in 2011 to 66.7% in 2016. Tablets will also grow significantly with share growing from 7.7% in 2011 to 13.4% in 2016. The shift in demand from the more expensive PC category to more reasonably priced smartphones and tablets will drive the collective market ASP from $534 in 2011 to $378 in 2016.”

In summary, PC’s lose, smartphones and tablets win. And, of course, as these devices get more affordable the entire process will accelerate.

Not totally sure I understand this whole retreat from mobile first! Just because figuring out a monetization and engagement strategy is hard in a competitive app marketplace doesn’t mean that startups shouldn’t try to figure it out.